|
 Theological
Education That Makes a Difference: Church Growth in
the Free Methodist Church in Malawi and Zimbabwe
by Henry Church
Published
by the Christian Literature Assoc. in Malawi
 Henry
Church is the Africa Area Director for Free Methodist
World Missions. Born in the USA, he worked in Southern
Africa for more than 20 years, being resident in either
Masvingo, Zimbabwe or Lilongwe, Malawi. He holds a Ph.D.
from the University of Malawi.
Contents
Chapter One
Research Methodology
Chapter Two
Free Methodism
Chapter Three
The Free Methodist Church in Malawi
Chapter Four
Profile of a Malawian Free Methodist
Chapter Five
Theological Education for Malawi
Chapter Six
How Does the Free Methodist Church in Malawi Grow?
Chapter Seven
Why Does the Free Methodist Church in Malawi Grow?
Chapter Eight
The Zimbabwe Case
Chapter Nine
Conclusions
Appendix A The Free Methodist Church (1995 Book
of Discipline) Appendix B Historical Articles of
Religion (1995 Book of Discipline) Appendix C Current
Articles of Religion (1995 Book of Discipline) Appendix
D Membership Covenant of the Free Methodist Church
Appendix E Missions Beginnings (1995, Light and
Life Magazine) Appendix F Courses at Malawi Free
Methodist Bible School Appendix G Interview Questions
for Lay People and Pastors Appendix H Lilongwe
Bible School Teachers 1983-1993
Bibliography
Introduction
Theological Education is common to most church organizations.
The Baptists have their bible school, as do the Seventh
Day Adventists, the Church of the Nazarene, CCAP, and
a dozen others. And Free Methodists have bible schools
in nearly every country where they have churches. So what
is the difference between them, and why this study?
The Free Methodist Church in Malawi has had outstanding
growth. "When evaluated against such programmes in
other countries, the main difference is the model and
philosophy of the Malawi theological education programme.
The Malawi model uses a particular "modular structure"
which is part of its special contribution to theological
education models. In order to differentiate between this
modular structure and others, I have chosen to call our
particular model the Chilinde Approach.
The philosophy of the Chilinde Approach includes
the idea that the church should grow, and the bible school
should help make it happen. The modular model which the
Free Methodists use in Malawi makes the fulfillment of
the philosophy possible.
Not least in comparative data is that in other countries,
where training programmes have switched from traditional
residential programmes to an adaptation of the Chilinde
Approach, church growth has been an immediate result.
This is not Theological Education by Extension. It is
not a resident programme. It is a unique idea somewhere
between the two with more formalized instruction on the
training side, and more accountability on the practical
side.
In addition to studying the effect of the Malawi Free
Methodist bible school model on church growth, this dissertation
also chronicles the history of the Free Methodist Church
in Malawi and places it within the context of worldwide
Free Methodism.
It is my hope that the results of this study will prove
helpful to other's who wrestle with making theological
education practical and productive.
—
Henry G. Church, Lilongwe, Malawi, 2001
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